No Way to Get to America
by Sophia Hawkins
Summary: AU. What happened during the trip back to Key Palm after the end of "Calcutta Adventure"?
1. Chapter 1

No Way to Get to America

"Well, Hadji, what do you think about traveling by airplane?" Jonny asked his new adopted brother as they entered the airport.

"It was fun, Jonny," Hadji answered, and promptly added, "The first three times."

Race Bannon was not so optimistic about it as he came in behind the boys carrying his own suitcase. "First a tropical storm and we detour, then an emergency landing due to fog…then the engine gets hit by lightning, and we still have 9,000 miles to go. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear _somebody_ don't want us getting back to Palm Key."

"I said it before, and I say it again," Hadji said jokingly, "This is _no_ way to get to America."

Race sighed and told the boys, "Oh well, we might as well find a seat and take a load off while we wait for the next departure. But if our luck with the airplanes doesn't improve soon, I'm opting for a boat ride the rest of the way home."

"Home," Hadji spoke up, "A new and foreign concept," all the same he had a big smile on his face as he said it.

"I think you'll like Palm Key, Hadji, once we actually get there," Race said.

"I think Bandit feels the same way, Race," Jonny picked up the little pet carrier he'd hauled in and undid the latch so Bandit could get out and stretch his short legs a bit before they boarded the next plane.

The plump little white dog scattered out of his pet taxi and went around the floor in circles, sniffing and happily barking, "Ruff-ruff-ruff-ruff-ruff!"

Race and the boys laughed at the yappy little dog's antics.

"That's exactly how _I_ feel yo-yoing between airports, Bandit," Race told him, and tilted his head back and closed his eyes momentarily, "And I'll like it when we get back home."

Jonny looked around the waiting area of the terminal and finally saw his dad coming their way.

"Hey Dad, when's the next flight leave?" he asked.

"In about an hour, son," Dr. Quest went over towards their bodyguard and asked him, "Race, can I see you for a moment?"

"Sure thing, Doctor," Race answered as he stood up, "Your office or mine?"

The two men walked out of earshot of the boys, who Benton was relieved to find weren't trying to listen in on the conversation anyway. He looked to the other man and told him, "There are only two open spots on the next flight out. The _next_ plane heading anywhere near Florida that isn't already booked solid, won't leave until tomorrow afternoon."

"Great," Race said, "Now we're going to be stuck here another 15 hours."

"Maybe not," Benton replied, "I had an idea. What if one of us takes one of the boys and goes on ahead, and the other two will follow on the next flight?"

"Not that I'm not tempted, Doctor, but _who_ would be going and _who_ would be staying, and which kid would be going with whom?"

"Well I thought about that, Race," Benton said, "I think it would be very beneficial for Hadji if the two of you went on ahead by yourselves, give him a chance to get adjusted to everything before we join up. Jonny and I can take tomorrow's flight out…besides, I'm sure Bandit would enjoy a night in a hotel room instead of that carry cage."

"That's a good idea, Doctor, I like it," Race told him, "I'm sure Hadji will too."

"I took the liberty of getting you two tickets while they were still available," Doctor Quest retrieved the two airline tickets from his coat pocket, "Do you think Hadji will mind traveling business class this time?"

"I know I won't," Race answered as he took the tickets, "We've just had _three_ first class trips that all ended in disaster. If this one gets us home, we can be freight for all I care."

Dr. Quest chuckled and responded, "That's the spirit, Race, I'll go explain the situation to the boys and…"

"I'll do it, Doctor Quest," Race offered, "I don't think Hadji would take unkindly to the news but all the same I think it'll be better coming from me."

The bodyguard headed back to the two boys who were talking amongst themselves and laughing while they waited for something to happen.

"Hey boys, I need to talk to you for a minute," he told them as he sat down across from them.

"What is it, Race?" Jonny asked.

"Well we've run into another bout of bad luck on this plane too. Most of the seats are already booked up, there are only two spots available, and the next available flight won't leave until tomorrow afternoon."

"Oh," Jonny said as he patted Bandit on the head, "So what do we do, Race?"

"Well we have two options, either one, we can all stay in a hotel for the night and come back tomorrow, or two of us could leave now and the other two could take the later flight," Race explained.

"Gosh, which two?" Jonny asked.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you boys about," Race told them, "Jonny, what if you and your dad and Bandit stayed at the hotel, and Hadji and I went on ahead?" he turned to the Indian boy and asked him, "Would that be alright with you, Hadji?"

"Yes, Mr. Bannon, that would be fine," Hadji said, "If it is alright with Jonny and Dr. Quest."

"What do you say, Jonny?" Race asked, "Once we get home it's going to be an adjustment for Hadji, it might be better if he had some time to get adapted to everything before it's all of us jam packed together again."

Jonny shrugged and said, "Well I don't mind, Race. I think Bandit's tired of riding in his taxi for one day anyway." He looked down at the tired and dopily grinning dog and asked him, "Aren't you, boy?"

Bandit's response was to climb up in his master's lap and sprawl all fours every which way and let his head droop down with his tongue hanging out.

"Looks like a yes to me," Hadji said.

Race stood up and told the boy, "Come on, Hadji, we better get going so we'll make the plane."

"See you guys in a couple days," Jonny waved goodbye.

"See you, Jonny," Hadji said as he picked up his suitcase.

"Either way I'm just glad we don't have to linger here anymore than necessary," Race confided in Hadji, "In which case, Hadji, makes you fortunate enough to miss out on _one_ custom in particular that's not worth experiencing."

"What is that, Mr. Bannon?" Hadji asked.

"Airport food," Race answered.


	2. Chapter 2

A slight turbulence during the plane ride shook Race out of a brief sleep, and it took him a few seconds to remember where they even were. Then everything suddenly came back, they were on an all-night flight hoping, knock wood, that by the time they touched down they'd be on the East Coast and from there it would practically be a hop, skip and a jump back to Key Palm. Failing to suppress a particularly powerful yawn, he turned and saw Hadji, who was staring intently out the window, into the vast blackness of the night outside. He turned and looked towards the man from Intelligence One and for the first time since they'd met, Race got to actually see this boy's eyes and see just how dark and how wide they really were, and how serious and somber, well beyond his years. Then it occurred to Race that as a whole, the kid didn't look exactly well.

"What's the matter, Hadji, finally getting airsick?" he asked.

"No, Mr. Bannon," the Indian boy answered as he blinked slowly, "I think I'm just finally getting homesick. I'm very excited to be going with you and the Quests, but India has been my home all my life, and it just occurred to me I'm really leaving."

_Very_ solemn for a boy his age, maybe too much, and too darn polite. 'Mr. Bannon', that's all Race had heard since they left Calcutta, he was used to being referred to as such by uptight adults but not kids. Race tried to think how to handle this situation without completely sticking his foot in his mouth, this was just as much new territory for him as it was for the kid.

"It's always difficult picking up and moving somewhere new," he said, "It's been several years since I've been to my own homeland."

"Where's that?" Hadji asked curiously.

"Illinois, about 2000 miles away from Palm Key," Race answered, "I've been just about all around the world with Dr. Quest and Jonny, but it never was easy when I was younger and first started traveling. Every time you turn around: bam, new place, new culture, new people, new language, new customs, new dangers, new problems, and to tell you the truth I still haven't quite gotten the full hang of it yet."

"I see," Hadji took all of this in.

"You know, Hadji, a large part of America's history for the last few hundred years was founded on immigrants from other countries coming over and putting down roots there. But you take an average American like me, or Dr. Quest, or Jonny, and you go to another country, you tend to stick out pretty well and the locals don't waste much time in letting you know you're not welcome."

"I think I understand, Mr. Bannon," Hadji said.

"Yeah well, now that you're a part of this family, you have a right to know what you're bound to be getting into," Race told him, "When Dr. Quest travels for work, _everybody_ goes, and we're bound to end up in a lot of places that the whole bunch of us are wildly unpopular, in fact it would be a safe bet to say in the time to come, we're going to have our fair share of run-ins with dangerous people."

"That is fine with me, Mr. Bannon," Hadji told him.

"And _stop_ calling me Mr. Bannon," Race told him, "If you're going to call me something, call me Race like the others do."

"Yes, Mr. Bannon."

Race rolled his eyes and smacked himself on the side of the face. One way or another, this was going to be a _long_ trip.

* * *

"I never thought I'd be so happy to set foot on solid ground again," Race commented as they walked off the stairs from the airplane.

"Me either," Hadji said as he followed right alongside Race.

The flight had been long, tedious, occasionally bumpy, and especially towards the end Race started to see fit to question the competency of the people in the cockpit. But it didn't matter now, they'd cleared almost 8000 miles since last night in India and now it would only be a short trip back to the Florida coast.

"As of right now, Hadji," Race told the boy as they entered the airport, "You are on American soil."

"Funny," Hadji said, "Feels more like linoleum."

Race didn't know if the kid was intentionally trying to make him crack or not, but he was coming pretty close to it.

"First thing's first, let's get our stuff from baggage then we'll get out of here," Race told him.

"Okay, Mr. Bannon," Hadji said.

"And _stop_ calling me Mr. Bannon."

Hadji got ahead of Race, in just the few seconds it took for him to catch up, something happened.

The bodyguard looked around for the baggage claim, and when he found it, he did a double take at what he saw. Hadji was riding on the conveyor belt the suitcases were coming down on, and the people collecting their bags were starting to notice.

"Hadji, get off of there!" Race told him.

"Okay, Race," Hadji folded his arms over his chest and said, "Sim-sim-salabim," and grabbed two suitcases just before he levitated off the belt. People also noticed this and nobody knew what to make of it.

"Oh brother," Race said as he watched the kid levitate over towards him, then land smoothly on the floor.

"Here's your suitcase, Race," Hadji held up the larger valise to the bodyguard.

"Thank you, Hadji," Race responded, then added somewhat firmly, "But don't do that again. Next time let the bags come to _us_." He pointed back to the conveyor belt and explained, "That's what that thing's for."

"Oh, okay."

"Now," Race told him, "We get out of here, and get a car to head down to the docks, all that stands between us and home now is a few hours on a boat."

Hadji yawned and said, "We've been flying all night. It'll be tonight by the time we get there."

"No, it'll just be around sunup," Race showed Hadji his watch, "Calcutta's about 9 ½ hours ahead of the time zone here."

Hadji rubbed his eyes and asked the bodyguard, "You mean back there it's already today and here it's still last night?"

"Talk about your time travel, eh?" Race responded.

Hadji wasn't sure what to make of that, but he was relieved to know they had more time than he'd thought. He was eager to see what all there was to this new country, and he wanted to see as much as he could before they got to the island.

"Well come on," Race said, "Let's see if we can hail a cab."

"I can do that," Hadji said excitedly as he headed for the exit, "The Pasha Peddler taught me that, TAXI!"

"Hadji, get back here!" Race called after the boy.

Hadji pushed past several people and ran out into the muggy night air and was instantly distracted by all the bright lights and the commotion of the city. He aimlessly wandered around and didn't even realize he'd stepped off the curb and into the street until he turned and saw the headlights of a speeding truck heading his way.

"Ahhhh!"

"Hadji!"

Race dashed into the street and grabbed the boy up and jumped back with only a couple seconds to spare before Hadji would've been hit by the truck which blew past them at close to 50 miles an hour. Race hit his back against the pavement and was dazed for a second, but quickly recovered. But he realized the boy he was holding in his arms wasn't moving.

"Hadji, are you alright?" No response. "Hadji, can you hear me? Hadji? Hadji!"


End file.
